


Obsidian

by Fir_1st



Category: Books of the Raksura - Martha Wells
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-20 22:52:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17631269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fir_1st/pseuds/Fir_1st
Summary: Raksuran raised Crossbred consorts have a chance within Raksuran society when they've lived there all their lives; what would it take for a court to accept a Fell raised one instead?





	Obsidian

From when Icades was a fledgling, all he's ever heard of a world that existed beyond his own was carried on the dying breath of a Raksuran consort he had never learned the name of. In his imagination exists a pipe dream where he belonged to such a 'court', a home that he could call his, a paradise of companionship where he didn't have to kill in order to... be.

He lay in groundling form with the other Fell underneath the skeleton of a destroyed thatch roof in a house of a village only recently ravaged by cover of night. Usually on nights such as these, he finds himself rolling the consorts' words in his mind over and over again to remind himself of what he was killing for. He didn't remember the actual words anymore, his frequent reflections leaving behind remnants of his own utopia imprinted onto the memories. Though Icades had forgotten the exact words spoken, he'd never forget the desperation and hopelessness tinging the voice that, even as a young fledgling having barely experienced his 5th turn, understood its import and had kept it in the back of his conscious to this day.

Now, he is almost mature, soon he will leave this world of blood and death. No longer will he have to live on as a Fell ostracized by the other rulers for his lack of powers.

It was another reason that forced him to rethink his position as a part of the Fell hierarchy; he lacked the mind control and shared conscious that the pure blooded Fell rulers had. As a result, he was never really a full member of the Fell, just another tool in the eyes of the progenitor and rulers. An especially good tool at that; his shifted form larger and stronger than the other rulers while still maintaining an intelligence to match. It had helped when he was required to pass as another groundling in their society.

This intelligence might just also be his downfall as a weapon.

His shifted form's phantom wings ached to fly far, far away, and a voice in his mind whispers, _why not now?_ The stars appeared especially closer tonight, only reminding him of what he was missing.

And he agreed with the voice: why not now? He couldn't think of any reasons to delay his departure any further: his situation wouldn't improve, he couldn't be encouraged into his choice any more than he already was, nothing would be different if he left now; there was nothing left for him here.

So he got up, careful not to disturb the other Fell around him, and shifted. He was Fell no longer.

 

* * *

 

Icades didn't actually have a plan on finding the Raksura, he'd been so focused on whether to leave or not that the decision distracted him from the actual problem of how and where he would find them. The consort hadn't told him very much, but in his utopia he could imagine they lived among lush green shrubbery curated into gardens. So he'd guess he'd start there. Finding his way ‘there’ would be another problem he’d have to fix. Flying with the Fell hadn't found any Raksura so he decided to split off in another direction in hopes of stumbling across them.

Right now, he flew over sandy dunes, and in the distance, what appears to be some kind of greenery. Well it wasn't very green, maybe yellow-greenery. With his recent feeding he was nowhere near tired and he ate up the distance within maybe a quarter of the night. He landed on the very edge of the biome to rest and to look around.

On one side lay desert, the other a forest of thin, sharp-angled skeleton-like branches framing the sky into shards. They were so thin that they were completely invisible from afar. Their leaves were the yellow-green he had seen, incredibly thin and droopy, as if the trees were on the precipice of death. The sand on the ground gave way to hard dirt, occasional stalks of a tough yellow grain rising up beside, or near the trees. Shifting to groundling form and walking deeper into this... forest, the stalks grew more and more sparse, the sagging leaves growing more and more dense almost to the point of forming a canopy. The walk gave him time to think, and he realized more and more often on this journey that he began to feel a slight pang of loss.

It wouldn't be too late to return back to the Fell now; they would wake up to find him still with them.

It confused him, he'd never enjoyed living among the Fell when he believed that there could be something better for him out there. In the midst of his contemplation an ominous feeling rose up in the silence like white noise, his spines instinctively twitching. He was far into the forest now, and the depth of the darkness was leaving him jittery and high strung. He'd wait until the morning to continue searching. He flew to a branch and found it much more sturdy and tough than it had first appeared; the wood was tough as rock and difficult for his tail to get hold of, so sleeping upside down wasn't an option.

He finally found a crook formed by several offshoots of branches near the tip of the trunk. The problem was that it was too small for his shifted form and he really didn't want to take the risk of sleeping in groundling form where he might be caught defenseless and wasting precious moments to shift. He searched around some more but couldn't find anywhere else. Realizing he had no choice he settled within the encasing of boughs and slept fitfully.

 

* * *

 

Icades woke, reminding himself of where he had slept and carefully standing to stretch the sore muscles resulting from sleeping on the hard branches. The ominous feeling hadn't left with the rising of the sun, and he was hungry and thirsty; a bit of a problem when he had just entered a deep forest with nothing alive in sight. He shifted to fly up high.

The vantage point revealed that the forest stretched further than the eye could see. Since it had been clear that nothing could grow in the dry dirt there was no point in continuing on. He didn't mind the time wasted when he was too busy savoring the freedom that came with leaving the Fell. The vantage point also revealed a group of flying Fell in the distance from where he came from... or it could be Raksura. While the consort had not told him very much, he knew from what the consort looked like that Raksura were supposed to resemble Fell in some way.

It also seemed as if any mention of the Fell left him in a bit of a melancholic trance. It even felt like the longing was even stronger than before.

It wasn’t possible that the Raksura had come to him, was it? A giddy feeling rose in him that stoked every possible fantasy of his that could come true. He had to also remind himself he came from that direction, where the Fell were, but it wouldn't hurt to get just a bit closer to check. Fueled by hope, he flew towards the shapes. That same hope quickly died when he recognized a Fell ruler in front. But he didn’t feel that bad, it was an opportunity to return to them with an excuse of feeling adventurous.

He continued to fly towards them until horror froze his body as he recognized the symptoms of the taint in his mind. He was being mind controlled by the rulers. He was being trapped into the forest.

 

* * *

 

He’d been flying at top speed for a quarter of the day when he finally collapsed in a heap somewhere deeper into the forest. The trees had become incredibly dense and it was difficult to even find his way back to the ground through the branches and leaves shrouding the sky. The combination of leaves and branches left the forest floor shrouded in perpetual darkness.

He had belatedly realized during his flight that the ominous feeling could have been the feeling of being watched. Or from mind manipulations. It appeared to be gone for now. Icades cursed himself for his stupidity, his stupid hope, and being stupid enough to fly out of the Fell colony on a whim with no plan.

He still hadn’t ate nor drank anything, and while his speed and strength should’ve been able to outlast the younger rulers, along with the dakti if they had sent them, the older rulers and kethel would have been able to keep up.

A niggling in his mind began tried taking root, but he knew better now, and the hunger pangs and parched throat reminded him of what he should be concerned about; he didn’t think he’d be able to continue flying much more.

 

* * *

 

 Icades hadn’t meant to fall asleep but he startled awake when he heard whisperings. In his sleep, his body had drooped down to the forest floor in groundling form. He didn’t think he’d shifted, but then he had always awoke in groundling form the few times he had slept in his shifted form.

The whisperings grew louder and he stood up ready to shift. What came out of the impenetrable forest were groundlings who were turned to each other, furiously whispering. They were a group of 5, very odd groundlings, and he’d seen his fair share. Their skin shone green from some kind of luminescence illuminating their face and chest. In the darkness, it gave them them the appearance of floating, limbless ghosts.

 _Finally_ ,  _prey_.

He began stalking towards them but quickly stamped down the urge when he reminded himself he wasn’t Fell anymore; he didn’t eat groundlings. Though, in his current situation, he doubted he would have too many qualms if he was given no other choice. But the groundlings offered an alternative, and he hoped they didn’t live on fruits and vegetables.

When they finally saw him standing in the darkness, they froze. Both groups watched each other for a bit in stony silence. They then turned to each other and continued in their vague whisperings before they then turned back to him and tried communicating with him in the same tone. _Did their entire language consist of whispering?_

When it was clear he didn’t understand anything they said they moved closer and Icades was nearly unable to hold back his flinch when they reached to pull him along with them by his arm. He doubted they would have treated him with such lack of caution if they had known he was an apex predator.

He thought about pulling his arms free but his current state and the lure of food kept him in line.

He also thought that it wouldn't hurt when he’d have some scapegoats for when the Fell do come.

**Author's Note:**

> I want this to be sort of long


End file.
